If you had to put an industry label on Jack Garratt, he’d probably fall under electro-pop. Music today however, is so blended and divided into so many subgenres that it doesn’t do artists justice when they do a brilliant job of blending R&B, electronic, pop, and rock into their sound by throwing them into the simple ‘pop’ section of the album store. The London-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/recording artist Garratt is one of many artists breaking into the mainstream music scene lately whose talents and signature styles are victim to the 2015 vogue of throwing them into the simple pop-bin.
Garratt brings much more to the table than just being known as a simple one-genre artist. He’s one of the many new acts bringing respectability back to the pop realm and thankfully starting to get some attention for it. I sat down with Jack before his show at Terminal 5, on the tour bus he’s sharing with Vérité for a string of U.S. dates opening for MS MR. We talked about his emergence in 2014, pop music, how his contemporaries influence him, and more.
P&W: Well welcome to New York. When’s the last time you played here?
JG: Le Poisson Rouge, about two to three months ago. I was out here pretty recently I believe. It kind of blurs into one, but before that it was Baby’s All Right at the beginning of the year. So I’ve been here a few times since last year which has been really, really fun. It’s nice to come back, I love this city.
P&W: Where in the U.K. are you headquartered?
JG: London pretty much, I grew up just outside of London in an incredibly English-named town named Buckinghamshire. I’ve spent the last three or four years living in London though, so I’m used to the hustle and bustle of a busy city.
P&W: Do you see a lot of similarities in New York and London?
JG: As soon as you get to cities this size, there are always similarities. The beautiful thing about it is that they all feel different in their own way. New York for me is an interesting one. I love being in cities, but I really like cities that encourage you to look up and I feel like New York kind of encourages you to look down. London’s the same for me as well. There are so many tall buildings and things going on. Maybe that’s just a personality thing, like me I don’t think I could live in New York for longer than a couple years. I’ve just moved to Chicago, where there aren’t as many skyscrapers, and where there are it’s in a very condensed part of the city. Everywhere else though it’s low buildings with brick and the city encourages you to look at things.
P&W: What about musically?
JG: I don’t know really. I haven’t really experienced the American music scene properly. I’ve been part of the London music scene for the past five years in the sense that I lived there and always wrote and performed around there. Having not done that here, I don’t know if I have the knowledge or ability to really compare and contrast the two. The great thing about being in London is the variation of music that exists there. It’s unbelievable. The guys who make up the Communion guys, they promote my shows in the U.K. as well as here in New York. They have their record label and everything and Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons has a lot to do with that. You wouldn’t necessarily associate my music with Mumford & Sons, but they wouldn’t associate other acts they look after and book shows for with big rock bands. Their whole thing is – “Is the music good? Yeah? Then we’ll promote it.” They encourage the idea that if the music is good, then it’s worth being a part of. Not to say that that’s not the case here.
P&W: When you play cities and for fans here for the first time, can you get a pretty quick vibe and feel for how they’re reacting to your music and your show?
JG: Reception so far has been really incredible. I’ve been really fortunate that the last few shows that I’ve done here in New York have gone great. The Baby’s All Right show sold out which is crazy, and I’m not sure if we sold out Le Poisson Rouge, but if we didn’t it was pretty close because it was packed. I’ve been fortunate that the people who have heard the music have wanted to come out and see the show, and because of that I work really hard to make sure my shows are really good. I work hard on that aspect. I go hard, I go heavy, and I do it for however long the set is until finish. There’s no breathing, but it’s exciting. I don’t want to walk up on stage and stare at my shoes for forty-five minutes; I could do that any other time of the day. I’d much rather go up there and sweat my fucking nuts off.
P&W: You know there are a lot of bands in Brooklyn that are more about that shoe-gazing kind of vibe and it can make for a bit of oversaturation when it comes to going out and seeing a band on any given night.
JG: Yeah and I kind of agree with you on that, but the shoegazy thing is good for some. There are some people who love it, and good for them. The one thing I want to do with my music and with my life is to inspire people to just do shit that they want to do. Just fucking do shit. If doing shit that you want to do includes staring at your shoes then fucking good. Great! Go stare at your shoes. I love the freedom that we have to do that in music. I mean look at me, I’ve got a big ginger beard and a top knot, and my t-shirt has the cookie monster on it. I’m as hipster as they fucking come, BUT I love going up on stage and doing “Hey fuck you and your pre-conceptions, here’s a fucking awesome show.” Not that there’s any arrogance, or ego in there, I’ll work for the attention.
P&W: In 2015 you had a new single out in “Weathered,” released back in the summer. You’ve released your EP, Synesthesiac. Would you say 2015 has been pretty good for you?
JG: Yeah, it’s been really good. It’s kind of been in a long run of good years, like 2013 was really good, 2014 was really good, and 2015 has been even better. At the beginning of each one someone’s always telling me “This is the year man, this is it!” Then the next year they’re saying “Oh man, THIS next year…” It’s not like I haven’t achieved anything, for the first time in my entire life I feel like I’m achieving things, it’s unbelievable. I’m just trying to take it step-by-step and month-by-month. The way my life is organized at the moment, I know I was coming here to do a tour with MS MR, but none of my flights were booked until two days before I left. Plans change and things happen. Anything can go wrong and anything could go right, but I’m just appreciating the moments and keeping the memories close to my heart.
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P&W: Yeah I mean that’s the way you have to look at it in this business, it could all be over before you know it.
JG: Exactly. I could wake up tomorrow and not have a job, all that has to happen is people have to stop listening to my music.
P&W: Next guy comes along.
JG: Exactly. I think it’s important to live in that kind of world. I’m excited for music, I’m excited to be a part of this young, new, music thing that people are hungry for at the moment.
P&W: There’s really been a resurgence in pop music in the past couple years, you have a lot of artists who have broken in the past year or two that really bring that quality songwriting back to the world of pop, especially in electronic pop. Do you look to your colleagues and contemporaries to see what they’re doing?
JG: I try and listen to as much as possible, but I also try not listening to anything. I sponge a lot, so when I’m inspired by something I’ll try and find out how they did that. For that reason I try to listen to a lot of new music, but that’s why I also try not to listen to too much because I know it will cloud my mind and get me away from what I’m good at. I don’t listen to music to try and therefore do my own version of that. I listen to new music because it happens to be really good at the moment, like Sylvan Esso, I’m a huge fan of those guys. The best part is I can be a fan of these bands then get all fan girlie around them when I meet them because we fun in the same circle. Like I’m a huge Lianne La Havas fan. She’s incredible. I’m bummed that I wasn’t here, but I’ve met her a couple of times, but I’ve been a fan of hers for years. Then here I am talking to here at a festival we’re both playing at and she’s saying she loves my stuff and I freak out. It’s great to be inspired by those people. I know what you’re saying about pop music, and I think all that is, is that people are starting to care about songwriting again. That’s all it is. Shit pop music still exists; better pop music is just outweighing it.
Article: Tom Shackleford
